Why IS Planning for Retirement Different for Women?

Every now and again I get an email out of the clear blue from someone I don’t know. After making sure it’s not spam, I take a look. Not long ago, the editor of another website contacted me and asked me to be a guest blogger for their retirement site, Retirement & Good Living. They had seen my first book, What’s the Deal with® …Retirement Planning for Women?, and asked that I write about a retirement topic. What a nice compliment!

Web page for RetirementandGoodLiving .com. Check out their other blogs and information.

I wanted to get right to the big question: Why IS planning for retirement different for women? This question attracts a lot of attention today and the answer can often be vague. In a nutshell, here’s how I answer it:

• 12,775: This is the number of dinners women have made over the last 35 years, or will make by the time they reach about age 60. Using valuable time in the day, and before you’re too tired, to deal with the mundane such as dinner takes away from more important things like learning about money, investing, and financing for their futures.

• 66.2%: The bottom line is that most people who reach old age are women. There is a significant population shift that occurs after age 65 in America—more women outlive men. But, they are often not financially prepared for years of managing finances on their own.

• $1,043: The average Social Security payment for women in 2015 is $1,043 per month. That’s only $12,520 per year. Are you surprised by this number?

Could you live well on this amount of money each month in retirement?

For a more in-depth explanation of these unusual numbers and specifically what they mean to women, their loved ones, and their retirement planning, read my guest post.

Why do you think retirement planning is different for women? Or do you? Please share your thoughts and ideas.